Track and field recap, Aug. 3: Noah Lyles makes Paris Olympic debut

Noah Lyles competes during the men

Noah Lyles competes during the men’s 100m opening round on Day 8 of the Olympic Games at Stade de France. – Credit: Hannah Peters/Getty Images

The second full day of Olympic track and field action in Paris is fully loaded.

The quick hits:

Reigning world champion Sha’Carri Richardson continues the quest for her first Olympic medal with this afternoon’s women’s 100m semis (1:50 p.m. ET) and final (3:20).
Noah Lyles made his 2024 Olympic debut in the men’s 100m, cruising into the semifinal. Fellow Americans Kenny Bednarek and Fred Kerley posted the day’s top times (9.97 seconds), advancing alongside defending Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs of Italy, Jamaican star Kishane Thompson and more from a stacked field.
American Ryan Crouser shoots for his historic third consecutive shot put gold medal (1:35 p.m. ET).

Follow all the action from Stade de France below. For full event-by-event track & field results, click here.

Men’s 100m Round 1

RESULTS

Noah Lyles set sail on his mission for his first Olympic gold medal in Saturday’s heats, posting a time of 10.04 seconds to advance. Lyles actually finished second in the heat, which Great Britain’s Louie Hinchliffe won in 9.98 seconds.

“I felt like my first 10 meters was pretty good,” Lyles said. “But I didn’t put enough effort on the acceleration. The moment is pretty big. I’m excited.

I’m not gonna lie, I downplayed my competitors. It won’t happen again. I’m scared for everyone else right now.

All of Lyles’ top competition was in action, too, starting with his U.S. teammates. Kenny Bednarek, who said “I’m gonna get [Lyles] next time]” at U.S. Trials in June, posted a 9.97-second heat to advance. Fred Kerley, the Tokyo 100m silver medalist, advanced easily, as well, in 9.97 seconds.

Jamaican star Kishane Thompson, who logged this season’s fastest time (9.77 seconds) coasted his way to victory in the first heat of the day in 10.00 seconds. Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala dominated his heat in 10.08 seconds, and Jamaican Oblique Seville hit 9.99 to move on. And Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes (10.03) and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo (10.01) are through.

Defending Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs won gold in Tokyo but has slogged through the last few seasons with injuries. The Italian ran a 10.05-second heat to qualify for the semifinals, but his race was a battle.

Decathlon

German Leo Neugebauer, defending Olympic champion Damian Warner and Norwegian Sander Skotheim finished the morning session in medal position in the decathlon. The event wraps up at 3:45 p.m. ET with the 1500m.

Additional Events

Men’s pole vault qualification: World record holder and defending Olympic champion Mondo Duplantis cruised into the final, as did American Sam Kendricks. Surprisingly, U.S. stars KC Lightfoot and Jacob Wooten didn’t advance and are out of the Paris Games.
Women’s 800m repechages: American Allie Wilson did not advance through the repechage round and thus bows out of the Paris Olympics. Germany’s Majtie Kolberg posted the top repechage time (1:59.08) to advance to the 800m semis with five others, including 2024 European bronze medalist Anais Bourgoin of France.